The pull of electrons is the main reason. The pull of the lone electron of hydrogen by oxygen shortens bond length; this is easily seen by looking at the electronegativity difference between oxygen and hydrogen. Although alcohol also contains a OH bond, the OH is bonded to a carbon making a longer bond. And the sharing of electrons between carbon and hydrogen causes the bond length to be longer than you would observe between oxygen and hydrogen.
***Do not copy this as an answer, but use this explanation to come up with an answer in your own words.
Water molecules are smaller and have less mass than alcohol and oil molecules. Explain why water is more dense than alcohol and oil.
1 answer
1 answer